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Vol. 81/No. 14 April 10, 2017
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Collins Reischman
United Food and Commercial Workers members on strike against Holten Meat
plant in Sauget, Illinois, rally March 27 against company attacks on
seniority rights, overtime pay, health care.
Steelworkers at Quebec refinery strike over pension cuts
SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, Quebec — Workers on strike against CEZinc
refinery here are fighting company demands for steep cuts in their
pensions. The 371 members of United Steelworkers Local 6486 walked out
Feb. 12 and have kept up picket lines around the clock ever since. The
company is co-owned by the Noranda Income Fund and Glencore, a
multinational company based in Switzerland.
“The company is reaping a lot of profits,” striker Michel Hudon told the
Militant on the picket line March 13. Workers on the line explained that
the company got a court injunction limiting picket lines to seven
strikers at each gate. Strikers showed Militant reporters how they
actively keep the plant under surveillance to make sure CEZinc doesn’t
violate Quebec’s anti-scab law, which prohibits companies from hiring
replacement workers during strikes.
“We are getting a lot of support from other USW locals and our strike
fund will last for the duration,” said Hudon. “Workers from Lafarge
Cement who won their strike to defend their pensions have come to show
their solidarity with us.”
Alain Croteau, Quebec director of the Steelworkers, told a meeting of
300 strikers March 8 that they would receive regular contributions from
the 600 USW locals in Quebec. “When there’s a conflict involving a USW
local it’s all Steelworkers who are involved,” he told the meeting. No
new negotiations are scheduled between the union and CEZinc.
— Beverly Bernardo
Illinois meatpackers strike for seniority and overtime pay
SAUGET, Ill. — Overtime pay for Saturday work and respect for seniority
rights are two key demands by more than 200 meatpackers who went on
strike March 18 at the Holten Meat plant in this suburb of St. Louis.
Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 voted 124 to 38
to reject the company’s contract offer and set up picket lines. The
plant produces frozen hamburger patties and other meat products.
“We used to work Monday through Friday, but two years ago, the company
started splitting our days off,” Otis Lumpkin, who works in the grinding
department, told the Militant March 25. “We had a contract. It’s like
they threw it away.”
The bosses call their scheduling “quality of life,” forcing workers to
take a weekday off and work Saturday without overtime pay during the
busy season, workers said. “Yeah, ruin my life so they can improve the
quality of theirs,” said Kathy Binder, who works in packaging.
In addition, strikers said night-shift workers who want to bid on a
day-shift opening could hardly ever get it. The company’s proposed wage
increases would be more than offset by increases in health care costs.
“I’ve never been in a union before, but I can see why it’s important
now,” said Terrell Askew, a young production worker who was hired a year
ago. “I support the union all the way.”
Strikers also described how they couldn’t get time off when they’re sick
or injured. Marta Elena Flores, a quality assurance inspector, said she
broke her arm when she fell at work last October. “They took me to the
hospital, and I had to have surgery,” she said. “I got an attendance
point for leaving work!
“Now if I work for more than five hours, my arm hurts a lot,” she said.
“The doctor the company sent me to says I don’t need any restrictions.”
Binder showed the scars on both hands and on her left wrist from
repetitive motion injury surgeries. Strikers said such injuries are
common in the plant, where bosses have sped up the line. Not having two
days off in a row each week aggravates these injuries, they said,
because workers don’t have enough time to rest.
The bosses are busing in workers from a temp agency. The company didn’t
respond to a request for comment.
— Ilona Gersh and Naomi Craine
Related articles:
Idaho miners strike against union busting, for safety
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